Grinding Brakes
September 25, 2007
Just a couple of months ago, the van brakes started grinding. So, with the help of Alfredo Torres, our friend who used to live down the road a piece, (still tearing up and sniffing that they've moved : ( but thrilled for them) we got the rear brakes easily replaced. At that time the front brakes were just fine. Then last Saturday on the way into San Antonio, the van's front brakes started grinding. Only this time, rotors need replacing in addition to pads. It's only money, right? At least we have our new truck so we still have a tow vehicle with which to haul water.
Monday found 5 of us heading for San Antonio in THE Truck for dentist appointments and to finish the patio room tear out on which we've been working. That's when we heard it going down the hill into Castroville ~ grind, grind, grind. It couldn't possibly be. We were told that the brakes were recently replaced. But, not THAT recently, evidently. So, I used the transmission to slow the truck down all day, sparing the brakes as much as possible.
We can't afford to replace both sets of brakes and rotors at the same time. Which set of brakes do we replace first? Rick decided on the truck as that's the vehicle he wants to use to tow. He came home tonight with new rotors and new pads. But, things usually don't happen easily around here. We have not been able to find a repair manual for this truck yet. This is a 4 wheel drive vehicle, making changing the brakes a just a little different than 2wd vehicles. Then a bolt broke off. Ugh! Now Rick has the tedious job of removing this broken off bolt from the wheel hub before he can get the brakes fixed on the truck. That is if he can find his tool to remove this bolt in our makeshift "shop." Thankfully, we are 5/7th of the way full of water so we have water enough for awhile. But for now, we are officially on water rationing until we have a tow vehicle running and are able to transport more water.
So, who was it that thought that having 2 tow vehicles would give us a back-up vehicle?
Ballantyne Book Giveaway
September 25, 2007
Life in a Shoe is hosting a giveaway of Vision Forum's exciting new adventure series, Ballantyne books. This giveaway is for a full Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library. That's 10 high quality hardback books with a retail value of $199!
These books are not for the faint of heart. Mr. Ballantyne lived among the people about whom he wrote, and he doesn't mince words when he tells about life among them. His writing is fast and full, descriptive but never slow moving. His Christian worldview (and that of his characters) permeates the book, but they never seem "preachy." This is what Kim's daughter tells her after devouring all 10 in a matter of 3 weeks.
Our boys have devoured the Henty Series and now have the Ballantyne Series on their wish list. These books are a great way to make His Story come alive.
Announcing
Kitten No. 2's Name
Kitten No. 2's Name
September 25, 2007
I know many of you are expectantly waiting for Kitten No. 2's name. We won't keep you waiting any longer.
It's taken us long enough to come up with a name that seemed to fit her. She's a very spunky, fiesty, playful cat. We tossed around spunky and feisty as names. We thought she sorta looked liked a polar bear or a baby seal, so we thought of bear and seal. Then yesterday I thought, "She is just so very white. What else is white like her?" Coconut popped into my head. It is very white and packaged in a dark colored shell. She is white with grey/brown tips.
I asked Callan what she thought about the name Coconut. She smiled and said that it was better than anything else we'd tried. So, we've been trying out the name Coconut on her. Which has morphed into CooCooNut and Nutsy. All these names seem to fit so I think we've settled on Coconut, CooCooNut or Nutsy for Kitten #2. Kitten #1, who we named Chloe, has also acquired a second name. Rick thinks she looks like an exotic little wild thing, so he calls her Wild Thing.
Hopefully, this ends the saga of naming the two new kittens. I know that y'all are all relieved now!
More Child Thoughts
September 24, 2007
Jackson traveled with Rick on the early Saturday morning trip to San Antonio. When the sun came up it was very pink, then it turned red, orange and finally yellow. It seems the sun changes it's clothes many times upon rising and setting. That makes for a lot of laundry. Sounds like the Seargeant Family laundry!
Jackson seems to notice the colors in the sky. When we were moving from California to Texas on one of our many trips back and forth, I was trying to keep Jackson's mind busy on the long drive. The sun was setting in the West Texas sky. It was a gorgeous sunset against the spiky mountains of that region. As golden of a sunset as I have ever seen, with many beautiful streaks of colors. I pointed the beautiful sunset out to Jackson. He exclaimed, "Look at the beautiful colors God painted in the sky for us!" Out of the mouth of a 2 year old!
Now that we're living at Plymouth Rock Ranch, he still notices the colors in the sky. Our first year, much of our time was spent outside as the 5th wheel was the only inside we had. We saw just about every sunset. Jackson would watch and wait. Then the sky and clouds would turn one color and then another and then another fleetingly as the sun set. He was always so disappointed when the colors would subside. Then he would start watching for the first star of the night as well as the satellites that make their treks across the sky. Soon we all started to watch for the colors in the evening sky. Inevitably you would hear "Jackson, look! The colors are in the sky again! Come quick!" To which he would respond, "Look at the beautiful colors God painted in the sky for us again!" Jackson has helped us to remember to look for the beautiful colors God paints around us every day.
Later on on Saturday Rick and Harrison had a conversation. Harrison had found a compass and asked what it was. Rick explained the compass needle and North and that the compass showed him which direction he was going. That satisfied Harrison. He then responded very matter of factly, "I'm going in the right direction!" It's always good to know that your children are going in the right direction : ) And, it's good that they know that they are going in the right direction!
It is our heart's prayer that we and our children will keep our eye on the True Compass, and know that we are going in the right direction, that He is directing our paths.
And lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
And He shall direct they paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Happy Birthday
Larissa
Larissa
September 23, 2007
Friday was a special day. Our 4th daughter, Larissa, turned 13 on Friday. The busyness of life has interferred with a timely posting regarding her birthday but we're finally getting to it.
Larissa chose Chicken Pot Pie, salad and birthday cake with goat milk ice cream for her dinner menu. To get ready for this meal the kids butchered the chickens on Wednesday night. The chickens rested in ice water brine until Friday morning when the chickens were cooked. Because of our limited oven space right now, dinner turned out more like chicken soup with biscuits. Same idea, just put together a little differently and yummy to boot. In addition to Callan's home made birthday cake and ice cream, Callan made rhubarb pie and pear pie too. We invited a family from church over and had a "little" celebration with 19 people in all. Our tent, deck and trailer were full, which made for a great evening. Thank you, Ehlinger Family for helping us celebrate this special birthday!
One of the things that seems to get forgotten in the midst of life in the Seargeant Family is birthday candles. I don't know why. We get the cake and/or pie made or purchased, but I many times have forgotten the candles (or the matches if we're going out). So, when we realized we didn't have the appropriate candles, we made a last minute call to Dad, who was still in town, and had him stop and pick up some candles. Thus, Larissa had the most special candles ever purchased for a Seargeant Family birthday because Dad isn't the pennypincher that Mom is. While at the store he also picked out some Ghirardelli chocolate squares to decorate the cake with. A Ghirardelli chocolate square quilt cake with Happy Birthday candles and swirly candles to boot. There were 26 candles in all, but since 13 of them spelled Happy Birthday, we won't count those : )
I may have forgotten the candles once again, but I WAS on top of the birthday present for this birthday (pat myself on the back). Oftentimes, the birthday week is upon me and I haven't even thought about a gift yet. But, we started a theme of violins earlier in the year, so my thoughts were already in gear and I knew that Larissa really wanted a violin. So, thanks to eBay and some time spent violin hunting, I actually had her gift purchased a whole MONTH in advance (double pats!!)
The problem with purchasing a gift a month in advance, is keeping it hidden and a surprise. WHERE do you hide a violin when you're living in a tent and a 5th Wheel? It did manage to stay hidden for a couple of weeks, but Larissa eventually stumbled upon it. A whole month of hiding was too much to ask for. Thus, no surprise on her birthday. But she does like the violin.
While we add another candle to Larissa's birthday cake, we recognize that we now have another young lady in our family. Larissa always has a smile on her face and spends much energy on our laundry and sometimes dishes. She's a great help in caring for the little boys. Her favorite hobby is crocheting. She is working on crocheting dainty little doilies and bookmarks out of crochet thread and wants to start a store called Generation 2 Generation on Etsy.com to sell her heartmade items. Larissa's great grandmother, Baba, used to thread crochet, thus the desired name of Generation 2 Generation. We'll let y'all know when that store gets up and running so you can take a look at her special creations.
May God grow Larissa into a mighty woman of God who loves Him with all her heart, soul, mind and strength.
Friends
September 23, 2007
On Saturday, 5 Seargeants got up relatively early and headed for San Antonio to help Mrs. Hawley, a friend from church, build a little deck in her back yard on which to put a playhouse. To assist in building the deck were the four 2007 Vision Forum Interns, Andrew, David, Pete and RePete.
A little after noon, after getting some needed chores done around the homestead, the rest of the Seargeant crew headed to San Antonio as well. When we arrived, the guys had the deck framed in and had about 1/3 of the decking on. Our timing was perfect as it was lunchtime : )
Before lunch could officially be finished, the traditional Intern wrestling match had to take place. I just don't get it, but when guys get together, they think they need to wrestle. There must be some kind of magnetic attraction to the ground, dirt, grass, chiggers, rocks or something! Last year's Interns were wrestling in the chigger-ridden grass, dirt and rocks of Plymouth Rock Ranch when they visited. At least Mrs. Hawley's back yard was grass! To end it all, Jackson ended up tackling Andrew starting a little boy/big boy wrestling match. Yes, Jackson won! Andrew would have made a great big brother, had God granted him a little brother. Some day, Lord Willing, he'll make a great dad.
Regina decided to video parts of the day for an Every Day News Report, which made Jackson's day. Jackson watches Every Day News on the Vision Forum website and we find him acting out the reporter's lines quite often saying, "This is Jackson, reporting for Every Day News!" This was a dream come true for Jackson - at least as long as his attention span would allow. Acting out the reporter on Every Day News is much different than having to perform this while the video is on : ) We'll post the link to this Every Day News when it becomes available.
The deck was finished around 4:15 p.m., the playhouse moved onto the deck, the final Every Day News shot completed and the job declared a success. The Hawleys now have a swingset and a playdeck with a playhouse on it for visiting young ones to play. We were sad to hear that the Interns had to take off before dinner as we looked forward to getting to know them better. But, we'll make sure they make it out to Plymouth Rock Ranch for a full day of work, fun and getting to know one another better.
After the deck was finished, Rick and the boys fixed their attention on a patio room that Mrs. Hawley wants removed. We've already demo'd some brick benches, a brick bbq and a sliding door. With the remaining afternoon they guys managed to get about 1/2 of the patio room removed. We were all amazed at how having 1/2 of the room removed allowed the beautiful back yard and light to come into the house. Plan is for the two boys to return tomorrow to continue working on removing this room.
During the day the girls spent time in the kitchen helping to juice 25 lbs. of carrots, playing the piano and the violin and had fun taking pictures with Regina's camera. Callan helped in the kitchen and made guacamole. We made a wonderful salad and Mrs. Hawley served us yummy empenadas and tamales, rice and beans, and then topped it off with date-sweetened apples, raisins and pineapples. mmmmm.....good....... We were honored by having Mrs. Hawley's mother, Gee-Gee, join us for dinner.
It was a full day of work, fun & fellowship. Thank you Mrs. Hawley and Regina for your sweet hospitality. Thank you Andrew, David, Pete and RePete, for your faithful service. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to spend the day with these sweet friends!
Camo Bugs
September 23, 2007
Skylar came in the other night saying, "Look at this camo moth!" It truly was a beautiful moth. Then later in the evening, overhead we saw another camo bug ~ a leafbug. God's endless imagination can be seen in his multi-faceted creation. Some animals were made strikingly colorful, many times to warn others of their presence. Others He made made to blend in with the world around them to protect the animal from its predators. These two were made to blend in. God has quite an imagination!
The Thoughts
of a Child
of a Child
September 19, 2007
Do you every wonder how your child sees the world around him? Or what he's thinking? Especially your imaginative child? This morning, Jackson gave us a glimpse into the way he, a 5 year old little boy, perceives the world.
Ashley was fixing oatmeal for breakfast on the outdoor campstove on the deck. Jackson was shooing chickens away from the stovetop, as they know that if they are there and waiting and any food gets spilled, they have first dibs on cleaning up the spill. This morning is a little overcast. Then the sun peaked through just a little. Jackson announced to Ashley, "The sun is getting dressed!" "Really? What is the sun wearing?" responded Ashley. "A yellow shirt and yellow pants," answered Jackson. Ashley then asked, "Is the sun wearing sunglasses?" To which Jackson emphatically answered, "No!"
Jackson is one of our more imaginative children and he comes up with some fun and quirky ways of looking at things. We've decided to try and record these memorable peeks into his imaginations as we all too quickly forget them.
If your day gets a little monotonous, a little challenging, a little hum-drum, and you need a refreshing smile, remember the thoughts of a child: The sun is wearing yellow pants and a yellow shirt, but NOT sunglasses : )
Pictures!
September 18, 2007
GoBibles
September 18, 2007
A friend recently sent me an email for a sale on the GoBible. The GoBible an audio Bible in it's own mp3 player. With the boys starting their business, we thought this would be a great way to redeem the time - working and listening to the Bible at the same time. I also thought it would be a great way to redeem the time on our trips in the car, or while doing chores.
The new GoBibles have been a hit with the children and they are in strong demand. One caution, don't let your 8 year old put one in her pocket and then decide her skirt needs washing. As mentioned in a previous post, we are now down one new GoBible : ( Lesson learned, I hope!
If you are interested in a GoBible for yourself, your family or a gift, please consider purchasing it through our link on the right-hand column of the blog page. For every purchase made through this link, we will receive a commission which will go into our property dominion fund, helping us to work towards getting a well, work shop and eventually a house!
How To
Butcher Chickens
Butcher Chickens
September 18, 2007
We've previously posted on our chicken butchering experiences and stitches. But, Herrick Kimball is THE expert on chicken butchering. He's even built a contraption called the Whizbang Chicken Plucker and has published a booklet on how to build his Whizbang.
On Mr. Kimball's blog, he has photos of his set up and his chicken butchering process. For those of you interested click here.
Ryker informed me today (in the light of needing to butcher a few more chickens) that we NEED a Whizbang Chicken Plucker. I told him to get busy building!
New Truck
and
Trailer Tire
Troubleshooting
and
Trailer Tire
Troubleshooting
September 18, 2007
When you purchase a new-to-you vehicle, there's always a learning curve associated with it. The Truck has been a fun addition. But, it has some bugs we are trying to exterminate.
The first "problem" we encountered was when we put diesel in the rear fuel tank. Evidently this tank has been empty for awhile ~ not good for a diesel. We knew it wasn't being driven much when we bought it but hadn't thought through a diesel tank not being used for a lengthy period of time. The Truck started spitting and sputtering and running poorly. Rick flipped it back to the front fuel tank and after a few miles, it settled back into running great again.
Solution: drain and clean the rear tank, put in a new sender, replace all filters and water separators and try again. So far this is on the To Do List and hasn't been crossed off - yet.
The second "problem" is that The Truck periodically stalls at idle. Not very often, but it can happen at inopportune moments.
Solution: Replace some sort of Idle Switch. Still on the To Do List and hasn't been crossed off - yet.
The third "problem" requires a bit more explanation. It sure had us bewildered on Saturday. We were heading into San Antonio to help a friend remove a patio room from the rear of her house. Ryker hooked up the dump trailer and tried backing up. The Truck kept stalling. Hmmmm..... What could the problem be? He finally coasted it into place and Rick took over. It seemed that every time he put his foot on the brake, The Truck would stall.
It was interesting getting down our driveway with no brakes! We thought that maybe it would work its problem out as the other rear tank issue had, but it did it all the way to San Antonio.
We stopped and got fuel and headed over to our friend's house. Rick got the boys started on the demolition project, unhooked the trailer so we could go try and find a book on this new vehicle that might shed some light on the issue and then we left. All of a sudden, no more problem with the brakes and stalling. The Truck ran like a champ. hmmmm...... Could it be another fuel issue? We had gotten rather low on fuel and had just filled up, so we thought that maybe the front tank had sediment in it as well. But, how did that relate to the brake timing? Oh, well, we were thankful that the truck was running well again. We were unsuccessful in finding a book on our truck and headed back to get the day's work done. We did our work, said our goodbyes, hooked up the trailer and put on the brakes. Stall. What was the connection?
We headed for home, taking some back streets to avoid traffic with our vehicle problems when Ryker asked the break-through question. "Could it have something to do with the trailer?" I had driven the truck with that trailer once before without any problems, but that was the only experience prior to this trip with the trailer hooked up to the truck. Rick pulled over and had the boys unplug the trailer brakes. He put his foot on the truck brake and it ran great. They plugged the trailer brakes back in. He put his foot on the truck brake and.....it stalled. Now, we're making headway! The truck's towing system does not like our dump trailer's brake system. It's always worked perfectly with our van as the tow vehicle. This morning, Skylar hooked The Truck up to our green landscape trailer to see what it would do with that system. Hit the brakes......Stall. Definitely The Truck's tow system.
Solution: Try and find a schematic, look for bad grounds or poor wire connections. This, too, is still on the To Do List and hasn't been crossed off - yet.
The Truck towing issue was supposed to be worked on Monday, but God had other plans. On Sunday after church, we went to a friend's house and had pizza and filled up our traveling water tank. About half way home, we lost a rear trailer tire. Thankfully, we were coming upon one of the very few gas stations in Pipe Creek. We pulled in and swapped out tires. The spare wasn't holding air well. We decided it would be prudent to leave the trailer there until we could get a new tire on Monday. I had just been thinking about how nice it would be to be HOME on Monday as I'd been gone for several days in a row. So, I readjusted my thinking and planned on getting the tire situation taken care of instead.
Since we've only had these tires a few months with now 14 flats in those same few months, we decided to see what the tire company could do for us. Long story short, the boys and I ended up at the wholesaler to see what they could do since someone on the phone had indicated they would help us out. They ended up not offering much practical help but I now have lots more knowledge about tires in my head than I ever wanted to know! It was, however, a great lesson for the two boys. The wholesaler ended up doing me a favor by selling me one tire at wholesale cost to get me back on the road but claims that these tires are not "defective" but instead are "damaged" and therefore "unserviceable." He who defines wins, and I am not in the defining seat, unfortunately.
We headed across town to Discount Tires to get the tire mounted, learned even more about tires, some conflicting information as well, and now my head was swimming in tire jargon, conflicting information and tire woes. Bryan had pity on me and he mounted my tire as a courtesy service. HE's a guy who knows how to treat his customers! And, he stands behind his products and offers warranties, something we've come to discover is VERY important when purchasing trailer tires! I wonder WHO will get my business when we decide how to proceed with tires?
It's now 5 p.m. and the boys and I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Thankfully we'd had a nice egg sandwich breakfast which held us for a good little while. We grabbed some food on our way to Pipe Creek to put our 4th tire on and head for home. The boys got the tire on and then we discovered it.
We had been driving the van the night before. Skylar put the keys for the trailer hitch lock on the van's engine cover. We were now driving The Truck so we could haul tires around town. Ugh! We had the tire on, but couldn't move the trailer. So, I called my Knight in Shining Armor, who was just leaving Hondo, explained our dire straights and asked him if he could go home and fetch us some keys. So, we waited as Rick drove 35 miles to bring keys to us. Ryker listened to the new GoBible mp3 we just purchased. Skylar worked on his math. I reclined The Truck's driver seat and rested. My brain needed it! My Knight showed up with keys in hand and we finally got the trailer home safe and sound with our hard-earned tank of water, for which we are very thankful.
Today, Skylar has drawn out and measured the double axle and fender area on the trailer, measured tires and worked out calculations to see if we can move up to a 16" tire which will allow us to put on a heavier rated tire. He'll run those conclusions past Rick tonight. Real Life Math and Problem Solving in action!
I've spent the day online writing to Carlisle Tire to see if THEY will talk with us about our Carlisle tire problems, researching trailer tires vs. light truck tires, bias ply tires vs. radials, brand vs. brand, and adding even more tire information to my already tire-overloaded brain. I've talked with the trailer manufacturer to get their recommendation and several tire stores that are familiar with hill country county limestone roads (those in San Antonio are NOT familiar with the needs of those traveling on these roads).
Ryker's spent the day working on the decking/floor for the shed. Yes, it's still in process ~ just slow process.
Solution:
1) Move from a 15" wheel to a 16" wheel & tire, allowing a higher load rating (though we aren't overloaded)? This is a lot of upfront money, but if doable, probably the best long-term solution.
2) Try another brand of 15" trailer tire? This will buy us some time until we can decide and pull the money together for a better solution. Probably the best short-term solution.
3) Go from trailer tires to light truck tires? Conflicting information here.
Bottom line is, we don't know what The Solution is - yet. We currently have 4 functioning tires, but if we will examine the empirical evidence, we aren't likely to have 4 for long - and we need water..........It may end up being a combination of said solutions. This too, is still on the To Do List and is not crossed off - yet!
I think that's all I'll think or say about our To Do List and how much is not crossed off - yet! It's becoming a little overwhelming!
So, if y'all have any real life experience or practical advice on The Truck issues or trailer tire issues, we'd love to hear from you. No offense to you salesmen out there, but salesmen always have something to sell and put a spin on things that put them and their product in the best possible light. (I'm a salesman's daughter : ) So, we'd like to hear from others who are not trying to sell us new tires or new wiring harnesses and learn from y'all. (Thank you, Rich, for your valued insights!) Experience is a better teacher than sales pitches : )
Through it all, we are learning patience, discernment, endurance, perseverance, plenty about tires, and last-but-not-least, trust in the Lord, for it is all from His hand, for His purpose and our good. These are small trials in the big scheme of things and for that we are very thankful!
The Lost Camera is Found!
September 18, 2007
Callan made it her mission today to find the reported lost camera. It's amazing how fast things like the camera come up missing here and how long it takes to find them. The last time we lost the camera, we found it days later in a laundry hamper. Not a good place, especially if the laundry person doesn't carefully place the individual items in the washer! Like today, a brand new GoBible went through the wash. Down one GoBible : (
So many hands and itchy fingers around here move things and so many brains around here just don't remember ever having touched the missing object! There are still things from many years ago that went AWOL and never showed up again. This usually happened when a wee little one was learning how to put trash in the trash can. I'm sure that many of our missing treasures (how many remotes are we missing now?) ended up at the dump, compliments of a little one.
Back to the camera. Callan hunted and hunted. Then, she showed up with camera in hand and a big grin on her face. She found it on "Someone's" bed, under "Someone's" box of stuff at the foot of "Someone's" bunk. This "Someone" maintains that they have no idea how the camera got there. "Someone" shall remain anonymous. Thankfully, "Someone" found it!
Thank you, Lord, for revealing to us the camera's resting place. Now, we can post some photos of our yet unnamed kitten #2 and The Truck!
We're still here!
September 17, 2007
We are very sorry for the lack of posts this past week. A few posts have been written up now for about five days but we lost our camera. Our thoughts were that we would wait to post until we found the camera and had the pictures to go along with the entries. Needless to say, we still don't know where the camera is! Why did we ever think that we would find it quickly??? So, rather than keep you waiting any longer we are going to post without the pictures. As soon as we find the camera we will post pictures! I guess Y'all will just have to keep coming back if you want to see them : )
We're on a Roll
September 12, 2007
On Saturday, we helped our dear friends, the Torres' move. It was bittersweet, but we are so thankful to have had them for our neighbors our first 19 months here at Plymouth Rock Ranch. Callan and Ashley went with Mrs. Torres to run some errands. Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, Callan came back with another kitten! They had visited a mutual friend's house and this friend had over 20 cats and kittens. So, Callan reasoned that we needed to help this friend with her large cat population as well as her thoughts that Chloe needed a friend. Since Rick didn't say no on the day on which he learned of this transaction, the kitten is now ours. She is 3 times as big as Chloe and is mostly white with grey tips, fine boned, with a siamese look to her. She is extremely active and playful. So far, we have not come up with a name that has stuck. We told Rick that he had opened the floodgates when he brought that first kitten home : ) I think that those floodgates have been closed now : ) Oh, yes. The neighbors stray puppy found a home, so thankfully, we weren't faced with that temptation.
New Family Business
THE Truck
Now We're Officially Texans!
THE Truck
Now We're Officially Texans!
September 12, 2007
The boys and I went and put up flyers on bulletin boards in Bandera 3 weeks ago for a new family business, Seargeant Family Enterprises. The business is providing services for any kind of ranch, home or outdoor needs. With Rick's background in construction, mechanics and landscaping, and the boys desire to mow lawns and fields and demolish (Ryker) and build (Skylar), we felt this was a good business to start. They lined up their first customer, bought their first self-propelled mulching mower and are mowing 3/4 of an acre every other week. They are putting together a bid for building a fence for this same customer. We are also working on bids for a couple of other jobs.
With this work comes some needs. Mainly, transportation. Our buick has reached its end and is not worth fixing, having already been totaled out by our insurance company thanks to a deer with very bad timing. That leaves us with the S-10 that Rick drives to work and the family E350 Van. If the van is used for work transportation, that leaves those at PRR without transportation, which is not safe. So, we started looking for a work truck, a favorite thing for Rick and the boys to do : ) They love flipping through the Truck Trader, oohing and aahing and dreaming. We looked at a couple of dealers, found some nice trucks, did some test drives, but had some reservations about all we'd seen and weren't quite ready to buy. That is until he found THE truck.
THE Truck is a 1997, F350, Diesel, 4x4, Longbed, Crewcab, XLT, tow package w/heavy duty bumper, grill guard, teal exterior with tan interior, 187,000 miles, one owner truck ~ A Forever Truck ~ as one friend put it. He knew he'd found it! On Friday after work, we left for San Antonio to finish the deal on the truck. Ryker told everyone that we had gone to buy HIM a truck, with a very big smile, I might add : ) It was VERY difficult for him to have not been in on this hunt-n-conquer, er, I mean, purchase, but due to distance and gas consumption, we traveled in the S-10, which is not at all comfortable with 3 passengers. Believe me, 3 big people riding to San Antonio in the S-10 makes us feel like hot sardines ~ yuck! Not to mention that leaves one big guy at home feeling left out of the Sardine Game. So, Ryker and Skylar had to trust their Dad with this very big decision : ) and I think he proved their trust was well placed.
We got home from San Antonio late that night and everyone was bedded down. But, early Saturday morning, they all found the truck and made their own inspections. There were kids all over that truck! In the bed, under the truck, in the driver's seat, under the hood, you name it there were kids making their inspections. Jackson gleefully exclaimed, "This is big enough to take us ALL down to the river in!" (He gets really excited about sitting in the S-10 pickup bed when traveling the 1/4 mile down to the river to swim.) The truck passed with flying colors and one way or another, everybody got their first ride sometime during the day. And, it wasn't long before both big boys maneuvered their opportunities to get in their first test drive. All of a sudden, getting that hay unloaded was top priority, especially since the truck needed to be moved in order to unload said hay. Need that trailer hooked up? No problem, consider it taken care of! It's amazing what will motivate them : )
THE Truck provides with enough vehicles to always have one at the ranch, providing emergency transportation should it ever be needed. THE Truck will give us another tow vehicle besides our van, which now has 196,000 miles on it. Gas engines aren't known for a long life, so we're very thankful to now have another vehicle to tow for us and give the van a deserved rest from it's faithful towing duty. THE Truck will also allow us to take on some work that we might have had to pass on, for which we are also thankful. And, THE Truck seats 6, so it fills in the gap between our 2-3 passenger S-10 and our 12 passenger van, giving us more options regarding appropriate vehicles for travel, allowing us to leave our gashog van home more. THE Truck is a great vehicle for traveling in and out our country dirt road with low water crossings during stormy weather. And, last but not least, THE truck makes us "official Texans!" It was everything we were looking for!
Back to the family business. Would y'all be so kind as to pray for our new family business? We sure would appreciate it! We are praying that God would use this family business to provide the resources that we need to continue to develop Plymouth Rock Ranch, get a well drilled, get a workshop built, put up some much needed fencing and animal shelters, and eventually build a house. We are well housed in our 5th wheel and tent, but the guys' tools and the animals need better protection from the elements. Not to mention that having a workshop will make building a house a much more organized and pleasant experience. Seargeant Family Enterprises is also several high school courses for our family ~ How to Start and Run a Business ~ P.E. ~ Construction 101 ~ Business Math/Accounting 101 ~ and I'm sure more.....
We are thankful for THE Truck (aka "Ryker's Truck") and we are excited to see how God provides work for Seargeant Family Enterprises!
Baby Noah
September 12, 2007
A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon a blog for a homeschool family with a homeschooling business Hands and Hearts. This family is Jeff & Kate Estes and their 7 children. Shortly after starting their blog, their youngest son, Noah, became very ill, so the main blog topic has become Noah.
Noah was born in August 2006. In March 2007, he made his first of many hospital visits. Noah was not thriving and after many doctors and tests, they still do not have a "name" to put to his disorder. Noah recently underwent another surgery to insert a feeding tube. It wasn't going well, so the doctors went in for a first-hand look. Noah's insides were not in their right places or shapes. The surgeons did what they could to "fix" Noah's insides, but he has had set back after set back and immense pain since this surgery. Most recently, the feeding tube they inserted became infected and had to come out. This tube is Noah's only method of hydration, nutrition and antibiotics, which he needs to fight the infection. He must be put under anethesia to put in a new Broviac in order to give him these life-sustaining essentials. That is supposed to be happening this morning.
You can go to the Estes' blog and read much more about Noah's road. Click on the photo of this little cutie to go to their blog.
One of the things that stands out to me is that in spite of the many trials (not just Noah's) they have had to endure, they truly "Count it all joy" and they faithfully include in their posts what they are thankful for. I know that God is using them and growing them in a mighty way in and through these trials.
Please visit the Estes' blog, and consider putting Noah and his family at the top of your prayer list. May God give Noah's doctors and nurses wisdom, may He give the Estes Family strength and comfort, and may He give Noah special guardian angels to carry him through this very difficult and painful time.
Marshall Foster Speaking in
San Antonio
San Antonio
September 7, 2007
Last night our family had the privilege of hearing Marshall Foster of the Mayflower Institute speak in San Antonio. He will be speaking in San Antonio the 1st Thursday of the month through May 2008. What a perfect way to encourage our family in our study of God's Providential History or His Story! Rick and I heard Mr. Foster speak at the Antelope Valley Home School Symposium several years ago where we purchased a couple of his books. The older children were already reading through his books so now is a perfect time for these lectures. How's THAT for God's providence? We are excited for the entire family to be able to learn from Mr. Foster this year. We are excitedly awaiting next month's session on Rome.
Announcing the New Addition's Name
September 7, 2007
I know you've all been waiting with bated breath for the announcement of our new kitten's name. We tossed several names around, Tiger being the most common as her stripes are very dramatic. But, that's so .....normal..... and we're not known for our normal names (right Grandpa?). After a day or so, Jackson announced that the kitten should be named Chloe the Cat. I really don't know where he got that name as we don't know anyone named Chloe. But, it seemed to go with Darby the Dog, so Chloe it is.
Chloe is thriving on her hourly bottle of goat milk. Not to mention the every minute of the day attention given to her by someone or several someones. She even made her first trip to San Antonio last night for Mr. Foster's history seminar. She didn't actually attend the seminar. The evening temperatures were cool enough that she was very comfortable in her car carrier. So, she didn't even miss a feeding.
Darby the Dog and Chloe the Cat are becoming fast friends, er....mother and daughter.... We have always been sad that Darby cannot have any puppies, especially since she is such an exceptional canine. But, she has now found her calling in mothering Chloe the Cat, a feline.
Our neighbor called yesterday and told us that someone had abandoned a puppy and she needed to find a home for it. So far, Rick has not said yes to this new little orphan. But, I am off to see this neighbor today so?????
Special Friends
September 7, 2007
On Labor Day, several families met at the Torres' home to celebrate a couple of birthdays and to have one last Volleyball Day at their home. Tomorrow, we will be helping the Torres' move out of their home as they move closer to San Antonio. This is especially sad for us as the Torres' are our nearest neighbors from church, living just 10 miles down the dirt road. Tears....Tears.... We are so going to miss them as neighbors.
Carmen has fixed innumerable wonderful dinners for our family with terrific cinnamon rolls for dessert. The homemade whole wheat tortillas, rice, beans, and our first venison! Alfredo and Rick have changed brakes in their driveway and fixed flats on our trailer in the rain. Lourdes and the girls have shared many lively conversations, and the little children love playing Lourdes' harp. We've enjoyed watching Pride & Prejudice and North and South together. Andrew and the boys have talked guns, archery, hunting, trapping, and butchering, not to mention late night critter calling/hunting and butchering turkeys and pigs together. Our family has been immensely blessed by the Torres Family in so many ways, including water, an essential necessity of life. We have other sources for water (and are praying for finances for a well, Lord willing, soon), but the Torres' water was special as we had many memorable spur-of-the-moment visits sharing life events and encouraging one another in the Lord.
From our viewpoint we are sooooo very sad to see them move away. But, from God's viewpoint we are excited to see Him moving in their lives. Thank you Alfredo, Carmen, Lourdes and Andrew for making us feel so special and for sharing your lives with us.
Website Updates
September 4, 2007
Hasn't Callan done a great job with this website? We are just so impressed with her application of her new knowledge and her desire to continue to learn and apply more. And there is MUCH more to learn in this techie world!
At the beginning of each month, we are archiving the previous month's posts under the month they were posted. So, if you missed any posts, please visit the webpage for that month's posts. Also, if the page looks different each month, that's because it is! Callan is making a new header with a new photo each month.
We use Mozilla Firefox as our internet browser. For those of you who use another internet browser, you may have noticed some wierd text or errors in our webpage in August. Sorry : ) When we first put up the website, Callan faithfully checked everything in Internet Explorer and Firefox, knowing that different browsers view things differently. Everything was fine then. But, last week, she discovered that for the month of August, one little ending command hadn't been copied and pasted correctly, causing the website to have errors on it when viewed in Internet Explorer. We didn't catch it because we were viewing it only in Mozilla Firefox where it looked just fine. Oops! We've learned a lesson though. We must continually check updates to the website in more than one browser to catch our errors. Would y'all be so kind as to let us know if you discover an error on our site so we can get it corrected quickly? We would so appreciate it!
We had a couple of different reasons for building this website. First of all, Callan wanted to use the knowledge she had just acquired. Second of all, we wanted a way to allow our friends and family who live far away have a way to "visit." Third of all, but not least of all, we wanted to "Record the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations." We wanted to document our journey so that God would get the glory for His provision and we would constantly remember Who it is that gives us our very breath as well as provides our daily needs.
God has blessed us with other fruit from this endeavor. We have become reacquainted with old friends with whom we've lost contact and we have made new friends who have found our journal. If you know of old friends that we've lost contact with, please pass our website along to them. We'd love to renew old relationships. If you know of others who are homesteaders or wannabe homesteaders, please pass our website along to them as well. Some have emailed us and told us that they've always wanted to do what we're doing but didn't know if they could and now their vision is renewed. We had no idea that our website would touch so many lives, but we praise God that it has done so in three short months!
In the month of August, we had 321 unique visitors and 590 total visitors. And 49% of the visitors placed us in their favorites! Wow! This is after just 3 months of our journal being online. We don't have a comment section on our journal - yet. But, we would love to meet all of our visitors. Please take a moment to send us a quick email and let us officially meet you, if we haven't already. Or drop us an email even if we have met you already! Hopefully, soon, we'll get a Guestbook in place along with a Comment Section and an RSS Feed. One step at a time.
Thank you to all who have come to visit. We hope you enjoy your stay each time you drop by.
More Rain
September 4, 2007
We awoke to rain again this morning. It is absolutely amazing how much rain we have had this year!
When Jackson used to see the rain on the doppler, he would grumble knowing it meant no play outside and mud, mud, everywhere! But, since the creeks have been running, he now equates rain with swimming in the creek, which is dry when there is no rain. So, now when he sees rain on the doppler, he jumps up and down shouting with joy.
Phillipians 2:14a is a much quoted verse around here. "Do ALL things without grumbling or disputing." The practical application of this story is that we will either be grumbling or thankful, depending upon what we equate our situation to. i.e. Rain = no outside time and mud ~or~ Rain = swimming in the creek. The proverbial two-sided coin or silver lining to every cloud or seeing the glass half empty or half full.
If we are thankful, then we will not be grumbling. If we are grumbling, then we are not thankful. If we see God as sovereign and working ALL things for our good, then we will be thankful to Him, even for the trials. James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials" Why? "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." And, who doesn't need more patience? The Israelites were known for their grumbling. Moses said to the Israelites in Exodus 16:8, "And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord."
We are constantly working on being thankful instead of grumbling. For when we are grumbling, we are grumbling against the Lord. Just as when we are thankful, we are thankful to the Lord.
Psalm 100
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us,
And not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful unto Him,
And bless His holy name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations!
May we become a thankful people, grateful to the Lord.
A New Member of the Family
September 4, 2007
Dad brought home a surprise for us today! A kitten! He found it at work in a pile of tires and decided to bring it home for us. You might imagine our shock as he is often reluctant in adding any more animals to our zoo! He might deny it but we think that he has a soft spot for cats : ) The little ones are excited and Darby takes great interest in the yet-to-be-named kitten.
Ninety-Nine Balloons
September 4, 2007
Eliot was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body. However, that could not stop the living God from proclaiming Himself through this boy who never uttered a word.
In the midst of heartbreaking tragedy, the Mooney family found the presence of God strengthening, comforting, and guiding them. Their story reminds us to seek God and endure our struggles rather than blame Him for our hardships.
James 1:2-4 ~ My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 ~ To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted.
Job 1:21-22 ~ And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
To watch Eliot's video created for him by his father please click here.
For more info about Eliot, go to www.ninetynineballoons.com.
The Return of the Daughters
September 1, 2007
Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin's new film, The Return of the Daughters, will premiere this October during the week of the Christian Filmmaker’s Academy and the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. The film is a documentary about the growing number of young women resolving to stay at home until marriage. It explores the vision of these young ladies and celebrates the glories of the biblical family.
To watch the trailer for Return of the Daughters click image below.
Return of the Daughters
Have you patronized blasphemy lately?
September 1, 2007
Did you know that there was a time when the entertainment industry was bound by a code that forbade them from using any blasphemy in a movie? The "Hays Code" stated:
Pointed profanity--this includes the words "God," "Lord," "Jesus," "Christ" (unless used reverently), "H*ll," "S.O.B.," "d*mn," or every other profane or vulgar expression, however used--is forbidden.
Hollywood is no longer restricted by the code. Many of today's movies don't simply blaspheme the name of Jesus. They go one further. For example, the award-winning Blow, directed by Ted Demme, is a typical R-rated film. The name of Jesus Christ is blasphemed eleven times in the movie. Three of those times, for some reason, the "F" word is used in the middle of His name.
So, how can you (as one person), make a difference and influence the powerful Goliath of the entertainment industry?
Read entire article here.
